Hawks-Wild tough series for Brunette

Former winger for both teams envisioned 2013-style success when he played for Hawks

May 08, 2013|By Chris Kuc, Chicago Tribune reporter

Andrew Brunette watched the Western Conference playoff race unfold and his only thought when the Blackhawks and Wild eventually were locked into a first-round matchup was, "Oh, no, not them."

"Them" is the Hawks, and Brunette's reasons for not wanting that particular showdown were multifold. He closed out his 15-plus-season NHL career with the Hawks during 2011-12 and is with the Wild as an adviser in their hockey operations department as he transitions from player to executive.

"From the logistical side, playing the Hawks was going to be a tough matchup," Brunette said. "Emotionally, to be kind of attached to both teams was not an ideal predicament. You want to play St. Louis or LA, which we have rivalries with and you don't like, but with Chicago you know all those guys and you always wish them the best."

Brunette had 12 goals and 15 assists in 78 games with the Hawks last season, capping a career in which he finished with 268 goals and 465 assists in 1,110 games. At 39, the winger entertained thoughts of giving another season a go but instead hung up the skates and joined a Wild organization with which Brunette had two separate three-season stints as a player

While doing some amateur scouting and working on player development, Brunette kept an eye on the Hawks as they ripped through the 2013 regular season with the league's best record and the top seed in the Western Conference. It was the type of season Brunette envisioned when he signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Hawks on July 1, 2011. Instead, the Hawks endured a midseason, nine-game losing streak and exited the playoffs in the first round at the hands of the Coyotes.

"That was what I was expecting our team to be last year," Brunette said of the Hawks' success this season. "Without that stretch (of losing) maybe it would have been that, but we kind of limped a little bit into the playoffs and didn't get out of the first round. It's tough to watch (now) because that's exactly where I thought I'd be last year. But life moves on."

It has moved on for Brunette, but not without pangs of wanting to take the ice each day. He envisioned different scenarios for how his career would end.

"I don't think it ever really ends the way you want it to," Brunette said. "I've even talked to guys who have won a Cup and walked away from the game and they still missed it and still had a hard time getting over it. It's probably going to take a few years. It's hard watching games being so freshly out of hockey. It's a transition period for sure."

Perhaps no one has a better handle on the Hawks-Wild series than Brunette.

"(The Hawks) had an unbelievable season," he said. "They're a really good hockey team. They're as deep a team as there is in the league. There's a reason they are where they are."

So can Brunette provide the Wild with a unique scouting report from a former insider's perspective?

"I don't think a whole lot," Brunette said. "Everything today is video and coaches break everything down. There are very few things you can really break down."